James c



(No Model.)

J. C. RICKETSON.

ELECTRIC SIGNAL FOR ENGINE SHAETS.

Patented Mar. 5, 1889.

X m m UNITED STATES PATENT OEETCE..

JAMES C. RIGKETSON, OF MllRVh'El, ll'lSCOYSl.

ELECTRIC SIGNAL FOR ENGINE-SHAFTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 399,163, dated March 5,1889. v Application tiled October 4, 1888.

To a/ZZ when?, zf may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES C. RIcKETsoN, of

Milwaukee, in the county ot Milwaukee, and in the State of lVisconsin, have invented cer tainl new and useful Improvements in Electric Signals for Engine-Shafts; and l do hereby de- Serial No. 287,161`

I'No nietleld squared portion or shoulder ol shank e and the end d?? of the housing, and the projecting end of the rod c bears a head, c?, adapted at the proper times to come in contact with the spring-stripsff, secured to the outside of the housing d. The shank e ol' the rod c is provided with a curved guard, e", and near the i end of said shank is transversely perll'nated the shaft of an engine the direction in which the said shaft is revolving, as well as to indicate the speed of such revolutions, and is in part an improvement on the devices set forth in my prior application for patent, led August 3l, 1885, Serial No. 175,744, and, as in said application, is especiallyT intended for use in connection with the shaft ola marine engine, though capable ot use with any reversible shafting.

Arepresents the shaft of a marine engine, which shaft is provided (on opposite sides in this instance) with irregular-shaped cams d and ct, (secured thereto in any suitable man` ner,) and above this shat'tis a suitably-supported trame, B, containing a movable block, B', to which are secured the socket-plates Z) for the reception of the pivot-pin e", by means of which it is hinged to the hanger t, or C', which latter is preterablyeut away loreceivc an anti-friction wheel, C3, jtnlrnaled between the walls Of said cut-away portion ot' the hanger, though in some instances l may dispense with the wheel C2 and make the end ot' the hanger, C or t", solid.

F and F represent electric bells or other annunciators, which may be at any desired point distant from the shaft-as, for instance, the pilot-house-and which are suitably eonnected to a battery, G, and to the contact springs or strips f f on the housings d (which 5 latter, ot course, must be of wood or other insulating material) of the h anger-rods, as shown by the wires g 7ly 1 and g 71 Now let us suppose that the shaft. A is revolvingin the direction ot' the arrow l. (Shown in Fig. 2.) The lowest point. of the cam u will pass under the hanger C, and as the shaft revolves and the height of the cam increases the said hanger C will be raised, (as it can only turn on 'its hinge-joint when pressure is apof the rods c, which terminate in the hinged hangers C and C. These plates h are set a convenient distance apart and at opposing angles, the movable block B being cut away or shaped suitably Yfor their reception and for the reception of the spring-housings d, secured to said plates. These housings d are perforated for the passage therethrough of the rod c, which rod has a squared or shouldered sh ank, c', atthe end which passes through the plate b, and the perforation d in the housing d is larger than the rod c up to within a short distance of one end, d2, of the housing to accommodate a spring, e, surrounding said rod c and bearing against the plied from the opposite direction,) and as said hanger rises the head C'2 of its rod c is brought into contact with the strips 73 f. and thereby an electric circuit is estalillished between battery G and annunciater F by means of the said strips f f and head o2 and the wires g h t, and the annnnciator F will operate, and as the shaft A continues to revolve the square j end of the other cam, d', will strike against the lower edge of the other hanger, C', and the latter will turn on its hinge-bolt c4 out of the way and without raising its rod c, keeping in this position until the cam has passed, when the hanger C will drop back to place by gravity, and it the shaft is revolved in the opposite direction, as indicated by the arrow 2 in Fig. l, then this hanger C" will be operated loy the cam d in precisely the same manner as the other hanger, C, was operated by IOO one-quarter of the distance around the shaft, i

it is apparent that frequently when the engine stopped one of said cams might be direet-ly beneath its hanger, pushing the latter up and causing the bell in circuit therewith to ring continuously, and to avoid this without moving the engine, and also to prevent the operation of my device at such times as it l was not needed, I have provided the beforenamed frame ll,secured to beams BGor otherwise suitably supported above the shaft A. The bottom of said frame B is perforated, as shown at b b', to let the hangers C and C project therethrough, and the movable block B', which rests on said bottom plate and carries the said hangers, is provided with pins b2 at each end, which move in slots b3 in each end of the frame B, and the said block B has a suitable covenBf, secured to it, and between the top of this cover and the top plate of the frame B is a spring, Bi", which serves to keep the block 'l' normally down on the bottom plate of the said frame, while a rod, B, extends through perforations in the top plate et' the frame, the spring, and the cover, and is there secured, as by a nut, l1", and from the upper projecting end of this rod BL a cord, B5, extends over pulleys bi lf to within convenient reach of the engineer, so that when it is desired that my device shall not operate a pull on the cord B5 will force of the spring B3 and draw up the hangers C C above the reach of the cams uy a on ythe shaft A, and said cord may then be secured in any suitable manner until it is desired to again put the device in operation,

when the cord Bi is released and the force of the spring B3 will automatically depress the block B and its attachments to their original position in the path of the cams on the en'n gine-shaft.

In order that the engineer may knowl whether one of the bells F F is ringing or not when the engine has stopped, I provide duplicates H H of said bells and locate them in the engine-room, the bell H being on the wire g in same circuitl with bell F, and the bell H being on the wire g in saine circuit with bell F as shown in Fig. l, and this also serves to inform the engineer without examination of the engine of the direction and speed of revolution of the shaft when my device is in operation.

Although I have shown my cams d and a as located on opposite sides of the shaft A, it will be understood that both may be on the same side, if desired, their location being only a matter of convenience, so long as their inclined ends face in opposite directions and the blunt end of one cam correspondingly opposes the blunt end of the other cam, so that the revolution of the shaft in either direction will always raise one hanger and bend the other hanger on its hinge-joint.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The combination, with a revolving shaft having cams attached thereto, as described, each cam having one inclined and one blunt 1 end, of a pair of push-rods suspended i-n housings above said shaft, hangers hinged to said push-rods and capable of turning on their hinge-j oints in one direction only and normally located in the paths of motion of said earns, contact-'strips attached to the housings of the puslrrods in the path of motion of the latter, and a pair of distant signals electrically conneeted to said contact-strips, whereby the inclined edge of one cam will pass under the hanger of one of the push-rods and raise it, closing a circuit and actuating the distant signal in said circuit, while theY blunt edge of the other cam will strike the hanger of the other push-rod and swing it out of the way on its hinge-joint, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, with a revolving shaft having cams attached thereto, as described, of a frame supported above said shaft, a

y movable block sliding vertically in said frame raise the block B and its cover against the i and carrying push-rods having hangers hinged thereto in the paths of motion of said cams,

a spring within the said frame bearing against said block, a rod connected to the latter, and a cord connected to said rod, whereby the hangers may be withdrawn from possibility of contact with the said cams by drawing upon said cord and on releasing the cord automatically restored to place, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand, at Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of fisconsin, in the presence of two witnesses.

JAMES C. RICKETSON.

lVitnesses:

H. G. UNDnRwoon, A. W. Soort.

IOO 

